Åsa Melhus is professor of infectious medicine and has worked with medical care hygiene for many years.
Photograph: Mikael Wallerstedt
To avoid the Coronavirus, wash your hands thoroughly, maintain social distance and when socialising, do so outside. This is some of the advice from Åsa Melhus, professor of infectious medicine.
Åsa Melhus studies bacteria and is not an expert specifically on viruses, but she has worked with medical care hygiene for many years and knows how to avoid infections.
"The coronavirus began spreading in China, one of the most densely populated countries in the world. "You need to remember that there is a big difference in infection risk in China and Sweden," says Åsa Melhus.
Actually, the coronavirus is not so different from the influenza virus in terms of means of infection.
"Increasingly, it appears that infection occurs through aerosol and contact, so if you maintain a distance of 1.5 metres, then there is no great risk of infection. If you are outdoors, there is very little risk."
Indoors, the risk of infection is greater, such as when many people gather in a lecture hall.
"In a lecture hall, you sit close to each other and breathe the same air since rooms don't always have very good ventilation. So that can be the worse situation at the university."
Wash your hands with soap
Luckily teaching can be done online or through recorded lectures, so there are plenty of measures that can be taken at the university if needed.
Is it important to wash your hands?
"Yes, the virus is very sensitive to soap and alcohol. Many people seem to have understood this advice and are following it. But a two-second handwashing isn't enough. You need to lather the soap well. Actually, you need to wash your hands for 20 seconds if you really want to clean them."
Many people do much less than that and don't use much soap. Instead, they just run water over their hands.
"Soap really is important since the virus particles have a membrane and washing with soap breaks down this membrane. So soap is an important ingredient."
Stay home
Another important piece of advice, just as with a regular cold, is to stay home when you don't feel well so that you avoid infecting the elderly and ill.
"Many older groups and categories belong to risk groups. That's why it is important to stay home."
In these difficult times, it is also good to avoid shaking hands, kissing on the cheek and hugging. Try to be aware of your hands and what you touch since they are common way of spreading the virus.
"Sneeze and cough into your elbow and keep your hands from touching your face if you can avoid it, whether you have an infection or want to avoid one."
Some behaviour, however, is completely unnecessary, according to Åsa Melhus, such as using a facemask or wrapping your face in a scarf.
"The only thing a facemask does is prevent your own droplets from your coughs or sneezes from getting on someone else but using one all day will make it very moist. Then it won't be effective at all."
No enough medical care staff
As a medical care hygienist, she thinks a lot about how hospitals will manage to care for severely ill patients if the rate of infection increases.
"This isn't about a lack of space, but rather a lack of medical care staff. If there are too many patients, it will be difficult to handle the situation. We have very few intensive care beds and intensive care requires highly trained staff."
That's why it is important to slow the spread of the infection as much as possible, even if the epidemiological experts estimate that 70–75 per cent of the population eventually will be infected.
"Most of the people who have or who have had the virus in Sweden do not feel particularly ill and do not need intensive care. It isn't fun and you may have to stay home for several days. But on the other hand, it is good if you can manage staying at home so that only the worst cases have to be in hospital."
